GUE, UTD or TDI oh my...

[mustang_5l]

Decisions...
Looking at the different tech courses that are available on the west coast here.
Looking for excellent instruction in diving to 250fsw+, Deco Procedures and wrecks.
Please let me know of your experiences and recommendations.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I suspect that, before you get to 250 foot dives, you might have done a number of classes, and possibly not all with the same agency. But I don't think you can lose by beginning with either GUE Fundamentals or UTD Intro to Tech, and I don't even know how to tell you which one to choose. Guy Shockey, the GUE instructor on Vancouver Island, is an extremely nice guy whose motivations and attitude to teaching are fabulous -- I know this because I've been talking to the guy for around three years now.

Todd Powell, the UTD instructor in Vancouver, is also an extremely nice guy who has rapidly built an impressive community there. I went up and dove with them early in January, and I was very impressed with the number of enthusiastic students he has.

Mark Gottfried, the UTD instructor on Vancouver Island, is also an extremely nice man, who was kind enough to come up and visit with us when Peter and I did Saanich Inlet. We didn't dive together, but spent an evening talking about diving, and diving instruction.

I know Guy and Mark are doing the kinds of dives you're talking about, and I know Todd was doing TriMix I dives with my friends the day we dove in Vancouver, so all three are the real meal deal.

Everybody should have that kind of difficult choice to make!

 

[mustang_5l]

Thanks, I have already contacted both to look into the courses and their availability. Guy contacted me the very next day. He is holding courses on Vancouver Island and some through IDC throughout the year. He seems to be very flexible with our schedules. (in other words he'll work around us... even if it takes 2 weekends) I'm Still waiting to hear back from Todd but I spoke briefly with one of the sales reps at Oceanquest. My Dive partner and I dive at off times as we are both shift workers. So scheduling can be a problem. I would like to hear from locals that have experienced either or both and get their opinions.

 

[Katamuki]

You can also look up on the NAUI online information about instructors near you. NAUI offers an Intro to Tech program as well which leads to whatever final destination of Trimix/Cave instruction you are looking for.

GUE is great as is UTD but they are hardly the only choices but have vocal proponents in some places. Take a look around and like you are already doing, take a look at the instructor him/herself and thier experiences.

 

[nadwidny]

You take a TDI course to get a card. You take GUE/UTD to get educated.

Which direction you take is up to you.

 

[Hyper-limits]

Decisions...
Looking at the different tech courses that are available on the west coast here.
Looking for excellent instruction in diving to 250fsw+, Deco Procedures and wrecks.
Please let me know of your experiences and recommendations.

OK! if you thinking about diving to 250ft, CCR could be a way to go. I started like most Tech diver diving OC I took course like adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures did a ton of dives then I took the Trimix courses. It served me well but if I knew what I know now I would have taken the Adv Nitrox and Deco procedures course then move to CCR right away. Just a thought, doesn't matter if you go OC or CCR get ready to spend a lot of money and when you think it's over you buy more

BTW I'm not an instructor and I don't sell anything so that just my 2 cents.

Al

 

[mustang_5l]

I am exploring the posibility of a Megladon CCR in the future (1-2yrs), but for now I have all the technical equipment for OC diving to the deeper depths and penetration. So that is the training I want.
Eg.besides the obvious... twin 130's, Twin 100's, 40cf stage, 30cf stage, 2 x 80cf stage, my gear is setup for DIR configuration.

 

[wedivebc]

You take a TDI course to get a card. You take GUE/UTD to get educated.

Which direction you take is up to you.

Does John share that opinion with you?

 

[StreetDoctor]

I'd recommend taking it easy... having the experience, knowledge, and skill to conduct safe dives to 250+ feet doesn't happen over night. If you go the GUE route you'll need to pass fundamentals with a technical pass, then Tech 1, then conduct 25 T1 dives, then tech 2. I believe tech 2 takes you to a maximum of 250' if you follow the standards. You also need 200 dives before you can take the class.

These standards are there for a reason, I don't mean to deter you but you sound like you're in a rush. Anything at 250' will still be there in a few years when you've built more experience. I just barely passed Tech 1 with 140 dives under my belt and I will probably double that number at the minimum before I attempt T1+ or T2. I would recommend GUE but obviously I'm biased as that's who I've done my training with. Before I spend that much money (expect to spend $5,000-$10,000 easily) on training I'd also look into PFO testing. Just my opinion of course.

GUE TECH 2

 

[nadwidny]

Does John share that opinion with you?

Pretty much.